By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

​Irvin Rosenfeld, the longest survivor of the four remaining federal medical marijuana patients in the United States, plans to visit Montana to speak before the Legislature next week. Rosenfeld will be there to educate people on the importance of medical cannabis and its true value as a medicine.
As a federal medical marijuana patient for more than 28 years, Rosenfeld has knowledge and experience to share with others. According to Irv, cannabis is a medicine like any other, and should be treated that way.
As senior vice president of investments for Newbridge Securities in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, he also understands the economic aspect and how medical marijuana creates jobs for thousands of Montanans.
“Montana is being watched nationally, and what happens in this legislative session could set precedence around the world,” said Rosenfeld, who serves as a director for the advocacy group Patients Out of Time.
“Medical cannabis patients are productive members of society,” Rosenfeld said. “I am living proof. I have been a stockbroker for over 23 years handling millions of dollars on a daily basis.”
Read complete article here:
http://www.tokeofthetown.com/2011/01/federal_patient_wants_to_save_medical_marijuana_in.php

By Leander Kahney
LAS VEGAS, CES 2011 — Fittingly for a line of music accessories bearing the name of reggae legend Bob Marley, some of the product components are made from hemp.
The carrying pocket for the House of Marley earbuds, for example, are made from hemp fibre, a spokeswoman told me. Bob Marley famously used hemp for something else, of course.
The House of Marley launched a range of about a dozen music products here at CES, including a boombox, iPod speaker dock, and several headphones and earbuds.
Read complete article here:
http://www.cultofmac.com/hemp-used-in-bob-marley-headphones-earbuds-ces-2011/75566

by Andrea Macpherson

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) –
A Canadian actor, comedian, author, musician and pot-enthusiast is endorsing a BC NDP leadership candidate. Tommy Chong has come forward to support Dana Larsen’s bid to lead the party.
Chong says Larsen is not your typical politician. He says he is a candidate who has honesty and integrity. Larsen is the first and only candidate in the NDP leadership race so far.
Chong lives here in Vancouver.
See video here:
http://www.news1130.com/news/local/article/165025–tommy-chong-endorses-only-ndp-candidate-in-leadership-race

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

Got tech aplenty, but still no mad rolling skills? A new Android app aims to help novice marijuana users learn how to roll a joint.

By GWEN FLORIO Missoulian helenair.com

MISSOULA — Call it the Pot Shot Heard ‘Round the World.
Oh, wait. Somebody already did that.
The Examiner online news site — one of many news organizations that picked up on the story of a Missoula jury pool that dug in its heels last month at the prospect of trying a case involving “a couple of buds” of marijuana — put a variation of that headline on its story.
Others likewise had fun with it. “The Great Montana Marijuana Mutiny,” the Wall Street Journal’s legal blog termed it.
“Where There’s Smoke, There’s Change,” pronounced the Toronto Star.
And Huffington Post declared in a possible first that “Sanity Broke Out in Missoula, Montana, Today.”
Headline hijinks aside, the jury pool’s action — and the reaction to it — has serious ramifications for continued prosecution of low-level nonviolent drug crimes, not just in Missoula County but around the country.
“It was almost like a slap in the face to the system,” said John Zeimet, of the moment on Dec. 16 when he watched his fellow prospective jurors, one after another, tell Missoula County District Judge Dusty Deschamps that not only were they disinclined to convict, but wondered aloud why taxpayer money was being wasted on the case.
“The people stood up and spoke out.”
Read complete article here:
http://helenair.com/news/article_2c062266-1701-11e0-8563-001cc4c002e0.html

Racheal Tamagni at home with her dogs before the raid

 By KAREN VELIE 
Medical marijuana advocates plan to protest against what they claim were aggressive and uncalled for raids on local cannabis delivery services at a rally planned for Tuesday, Jan. 11 at 7:30 a.m., in front of the San Luis Obispo County Courthouse. 
During the December 27 arrests, one man suffered a heart attack, guns were held to the heads of children as they were drug from their beds, family pets were kicked, grandparents were handcuffed and forced to lie on the floor and children were removed from their parents’ custody, multiple sources said.
Read complete article here:
http://calcoastnews.com/2011/01/aggressive-marijuana-busts-prompt-protests/

Anna Webb – Idaho Statesman

The Willie Nelson Pot Party Global Public Smoke Out is at 4 p.m., Saturday at the corner of Front and 8th Streets in Downtown Boise. The public is invited.

Read complete article here:

http://www.idahostatesman.com/2011/01/01/1473074/idaho-moms-for-marijuana-will.html